Cousin of Syrian President Calls for Democracy

The Arab League has given Syrian President Bashar al-Assad until Saturday to cease his bloody crackdown on protesters and allow a monitoring team into the country. To date, some estimate that Bashar al-Assad’s regime is responsible for the death of up to 3,500 citizens since the Spring. Are the proposed sanctions and suspension by the Arab League enough to convince Bashar al-Assad to step down from power? And if that were to happen is that even the best outcome for the country?

Ribal al-Assad is the first cousin of Bashar al-Assad and founder and director for the Organization for Democracy and Freedom in Syria. Ribal al-Assad was exiled in 1984 when his father, who advocated for more democracy in Syria, had a disagreement with the Assad family over how to run the country. In 1997, Assad started the first television station that tried to advocate democracy and freedom.